The present invention relates to holders for a container and particularly to one for use in connection with a vehicle and more particularly an armrest within a vehicle.
Typical beverage container holders offered as original equipment on automobiles either include a deep cylindrical support recess formed in an armrest, console, or other support member into which a beverage container or cup can be placed or a shallow cylindrical recess formed in the backside of glove compartment door. These structures have certain drawbacks. The armrest or console holder gathers dirt and foreign matter which is difficult to remove because the holder is deep and its floor not readily accessible. The glove compartment door offers little support to the beverage container, so the container can easily be spilled if the automobile is moving and hits a bump. Also, when the door is open for use as a beverage holder, the contents of the glove compartment can be jarred and fall from the open compartment while the car is moving.
There exists a variety of cupholders or container holders utilized for supporting cups, cans or other beverage containers in a vehicle such that the vehicle occupants can support such beverage containers while in the vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,417,764 issued Nov. 29, 1983, is representative of one cupholder structure which is incorporated in the armrest of a vehicle and which can accommodate such containers. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,497,076 and 4,040,659 also disclose cupholders which move from a storage position within a support structure and automobile to a use position.
Alternatives to the above-described typical container holders frequently include complicated structures which require too much room, particularly if they are to be incorporated into an armrest or console between the front seat of an automobile where other items, such as cassette tape storage compartments, parking brake levers, etc., may be located. In addition to requiring too much room, many of the typical container holders in use today require a considerable effort on the part of the occupant of the vehicle to extend the container holder from its storage position to its use position.